Plans For Campus Appear In Jeopardy

May 18, 1989|By CHRIS OSHER Staff Writer

SUFFOLK — Plans to build a Suffolk campus of the Paul D. Camp Community College on 15 acres of free land were put in grave jeopardy Wednesday.

In a meeting in Winchester, the facilities committee of the State Board of Community Colleges recommended that the state board reject plans to build the campus on land donated by the developers of the Atlantic Film Studios and an adjacent landowner.

The state board will vote on the committee's recommendation today, said Joy S. Graham, the director of public affairs for the the State System of Community Colleges.

Graham said it was unusual for the state board to reject the committee's recommendations.

Graham said the committee had reservations about what would happen to the campus if Ocean Holdings Inc., the developer of the Route 10 movie studio, was unable to remain solvent. She said the committee also believed the site was too small.

In its report, the committee recommended that the city and Franklin-based college begin looking for other sites larger than 20 acres.

Suffolk City Manager John L. Rowe Jr. said Tuesday the city must provide the land for a campus and make sure utilities come within five feet of the building. He said the site under consideration met all of the city's requirements because it was free, could easily be hooked up to sewer and water lines and was relatively close to the inner city.

Councilman Andrew B. Damiani said Tuesday the city may find it difficult to find someone who would donate land close enough to the inner city to be used as a campus.

The city has set aside $590,000 to pay for its part of the project. During this year's legislative session, the General Assembly appropriated $3.7 million in capital improvements for a Suffolk campus of the college.